British–Danish relations are foreign relations between the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The United Kingdom has an embassy in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and Denmark has an embassy in London. Both countries are full members of

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. In addition, both countries' royal families are descended from the

House of Glücksburg The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, also known by its short name as the House of Glücksburg, is the senior surviving branch of the German House of Oldenburg, one of Europe's oldest royal houses. Oldenburg house members hav ...

History

Middle Ages

Gunboat War

Peace between Denmark and Great Britain was interrupted during the Napoleonic Wars. Denmark's participation in the anti-British Second League of Armed Neutrality worsened Anglo-Danish relations, and in 1801 a British fleet under Admiral Hyde Parker was sent to

where it defeated the Danish navy; Denmark left the league after learning

Paul I of Russia Paul I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination in 1801. Paul remained overshadowed by his mother, Catherine the Great, for most of his life. He adopted the Pauline Laws, laws of succession to the Russian throne—rules ...

had died. Denmark nonetheless managed to remain uninvolved in the Napoleonic Wars until 1807. The British, who feared Denmark would ally with France, sent a fleet to Copenhagen; after the Danes refused to negotiate, the fleet bombarded Copenhagen and captured the entire Danish fleet so that it couldn't be used by France to invade Britain (as the French had lost their own fleet at Trafalgar in 1805), leading to the

Gunboat War The Gunboat War (, , Swedish: ''Kanonbåtskriget''; 1807–1814) was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and Great Britain supported by Sweden during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing sm ...

. The British navy began a blockade of the Danish and Norwegian coasts. In 1809, Danish forces fighting on the French side participated in defeating the anti-Bonapartist German rebellion led by

Ferdinand von Schill Major Ferdinand Baptista von Schill (6 January 1776 – 31 May 1809) was a Prussian Army officer who revolted unsuccessfully against France's domination of Prussia in May 1809. Schill's rebellion ended at the Battle of Stralsund, a battle which ...

, at the Battle of Stralsund. By 1813, Denmark could no longer bear the war costs, and the state was bankrupt. When in the same year the

Sixth Coalition Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction A fraction (from , "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, ...

isolated Denmark by clearing Northern Germany of French forces, Frederick VI had to make peace. Accordingly, the unfavourable

Treaty of Kiel The Treaty of Kiel () or Peace of Kiel ( Swedish and or ') was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 ...

was concluded in January 1814 with Sweden and Great Britain, and another peace was signed with Russia in February. The

transferred

Heligoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...

to Great Britain and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

from the Danish to the Swedish crown, Denmark was to be satisfied with

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania (; ) was a dominions of Sweden, dominion under the Sweden, Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish-Swedish War, Polish War and the Thirty Years' War ...

. But the Norwegians revolted, declared their independence, and elected crown-prince Christian Frederick (the future

Christian VIII Christian VIII (18 September 1786 – 20 January 1848) was King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, King of Norway in 1814. Christian Frederick was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick, a younger son of King Fred ...

) as their king. However, the Norwegian independence movement failed to attract any support from the European powers. After a brief war with Sweden, Christian had to abdicate in order to preserve Norwegian autonomy, established in a

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

with Sweden. In favour of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, Denmark renounced her claims to Swedish Pomerania at the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

(1815), and instead was satisfied with the Duchy of Lauenburg and a Prussian payment of 3.5 million talers, also, Prussia took over a Danish 600,000 talers debt to Sweden. Relations between the two countries were normalised as the nineteenth century progressed and they have remained cordial. In 1961, a maritime dispute over fishing rights off the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

, led to the Red Crusader incident.

21st century

The

2021 Baltic Sea incident On 13 December 2021, one person was killed in an incident in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden. Two vessels collided of which one capsized. Two people have been detained. Events The Danish motor hopper cargo vessel MV ''Karin Høj'' colli ...

was between British and Danish boats.

Cooperation

Danish forces fought alongside

British forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping ef ...

in operations in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and they continued this cooperation in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Denmark and United Kingdom work closely together on

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

issues.

State visits

Queen

Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until Abdication of Margrethe II, her abdication on 14 January 2024. Ha ...

paid

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...

s to the United Kingdom in April/May 1974, and in February 2000. Queen

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of 32 sover ...

paid state visits to Denmark in May 1957, and in May 1979. On 19 August 2010, Danish Prime Minister

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was Leader of the Ve ...

visited

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, to meet

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

. On 1 October 2022, British Prime Minister

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...

welcomed Danish Prime Minister

Mette Frederiksen Mette Frederiksen (; born 19 November 1977) is a Danish politician who has been the Prime Minister of Denmark, prime minister of Denmark since June 2019, and Social Democrats (Denmark)#Leaders of the Social Democrats, leader of the Social Democr ...

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

Resident diplomatic missions

* Denmark has an embassy in

. * the United Kingdom has an embassy in

. File:Embassy of Denmark (London, UK - June 2008).jpg, Embassy of Denmark in London

Notes and references

External links

British Foreign and Commonwealth Office about relations with Denmark

British embassy in Copenhagen

Danish embassy in London

The Anglo-Danish Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denmark-United Kingdom relations

Bilateral relations of the United Kingdom